Labor

Senate Confirms Acosta As Trump’s Labor Nominee

By U.S. Department of Justice - https://law.fiu.edu/faculty/directory/acosta/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56335092

The Senate confirmed R. Alexander Acosta to serve as President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Labor in a 60-38 vote Thursday evening.

The vote completes Trump’s cabinet just hours before his 100th day. Acosta is a former federal prosecutor and the outgoing-dean of the Florida International University College of Law in Miami.

Acosta, the 27th Labor Secretary, will oversee a Department undergoing drastic changes from the Obama years. President Trump called for a 21 percent cut to the Department’s budget, and numerous policy proposals remain in limbo. (RELATED: Defending Obama’s Legacy, Senate Democrats Grill Trump’s Labor Nominee)

A native of Miami and first-generation lawyer, Acosta earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard. He also served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. (RELATED: Top Union Boss Continues To Praise Trump’s Labor Pick)

Acosta was a member of the National Labor Relations Board and became the first Hispanic to be an Assistant Attorney General. He is the first Hispanic member of Trump’s cabinet.

Trump nominated Acosta after Andy Puzder, Trump’s original nominee for the post withdrew his name from consideration. Puzder, the now-former CEO of CKE Restaurants, withdrew after Senate Republicans advised the White House they lacked the vote for confirmation. He suffered a barrage of negative stories ranging from reports that he paid some employees in cash, hired an illegal immigrant housekeeper and allegedly abused a former spouse.

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